I’m introducing Ayurveda to you because it works. It offers you guidance and help to manage every aspect of living with ADHD.
Ayurveda is the sister science to Yoga and is around 5,000 years old. It comes from the Indus Valley, a region now known as India. The primary goal is to create balance and harmony and align with the rhythms of nature. There are four main pillars or aspects to finding balance with Ayurveda:
Ahar- diet - what and how to eat
Vihar - lifestyle - habits to help you live in sync with the rhythms of nature.
Sleep - how to sleep well to maintain good physical and mental health.
Brahmacharya - what you do with your time and energy.
It is steeped in the understanding that you are made of all the same elements as everything else in nature. In other words, you are part of nature and, as such, are governed by the laws of nature. When you follow her rhythms, you will enjoy good health. When you ignore the cycles of nature, you will not feel aligned, and your internal cycles and rhythms will be out of balance.
Ayurveda recognizes five kinds of elements or building blocks in nature. They are space, air, fire, water and earth.
The elements couple up in predictable ways to form the three doshas. Each dosha has specific qualities and functions that are determined by the elements that make them up.
Vata dosha is made of space and air.
Pitta dosha is made from fire and water.
Kapha dosha from water and earth.
What are Doshas?
The word dosha means ‘that which is messed up.’ When the doshas are in excess, we feel messed up because things go out of balance.
Each dosha has the characteristics of the combined elements. We all have all three doshas. You may have heard them described as the mind-body types on constitutions. When one or more dosha is too high or out of balance, we begin to suffer.
All of the healing modalities in Ayurveda: diet, lifestyle, sleep and energy management are used to balance the doshas and, therefore, balance you. So, let’s dive deeper into what a dosha is, especially vata dosha.
Doshas are a great way of talking about and understanding what could go wrong in life. They describe the characteristics or traits in the mind, body and emotions. They also help us understand when we are in or out of balance.
The main thing to remember is that your doshas are not fixed; they are a snapshot of what is happening now. Understanding them is just a way to describe what is going on in your life and think about how you can overcome challenges.
Like we all have unique fingerprints, we all have unique combinations of all three doshas. When each dosha is balanced, life is good, and we enjoy excellent health. When one or more doshas are out of balance, we experience disease or imbalance. What creates balance for you will be different from what creates balance for me. Doshas change depending on what is happening in the external world and our choices. Every choice, big and small, affects your doshas. Here is a brief overview of each dosha and what they look like.
Vata Dosha
Vata is made of air and ether elements, so it is cool, subtle, light, mobile, fast, dry and expansive. Vata has all of the qualities of wind. It is the energy of all movement, including breathing. Vata’s home is in the colon. It governs the sense organs and the nervous system, including the mental state, memory and comprehension. It is also responsible for the motor organs and especially the sense of hearing and speech.
It is the creative element, and it also governs communication. Vata is the most critical dosha because the other two depend on it for the breath and all movement. The first thing we do in life is breathe; it is also the last thing we do as we die. Inspiration. Expiration.
When balanced, we are ‘inspired’ - flexible, creative, happy and free. People with high vata have slim bones and high energy levels. They learn new things quickly, are highly creative, and can be very flexible.
When vata is too high, they can feel scattered, anxious or fearful, ungrounded and chaotic. Think space and air. It’s common for people with high vata to feel overwhelmed, have difficulty sleeping and feel like they are living on their nerves. They overthink and worry, feel all over the place and are blown about by life’s events. They can be highly sensitive to everything, have food issues, be prone to digestive issues and feel the cold.
Pitta Dosha
Pitta is made of fire and water and is responsible for every kind of transformation that happens in your body and mind. It is hot, oily, penetrating, sharp and intense. Pitta is responsible for all of the transformational processes in the body, chemical, metabolic, mental and emotional. Pitta helps us to see things clearly and as they are. This fire energy is necessary for the proper transformation of food into nutrients and waste. Pitta governs metabolism, hormones, thoughts and mental processes such as discrimination and perception. It is also responsible for our vision, body warmth, and the colour of all the tissues.
When pitta is too high, we could feel driven, angry, impatient and hot-tempered. Think fire and water. Folks with high pitta can be hot-headed, argumentative, hungry, prone to acne and inflammation, and sensitive to heat.
Pitta people are often tenacious, with a muscular build, probably athletic, and are strong leaders. They’re highly motivated and competitive, sometimes aggressive. In balance, they are intelligent, quick learners, self-determined, able, successful, strong and healthy. They have a quick metabolism, good circulation, and healthy skin and hair.
Kapha Dosha
Kapha is made of water and earth, and so has the qualities of mud. It’s cold and wet, dense, heavy, dark, and stable. It creates structure.
In balance, kapha is responsible for nourishment, structure and support, human love and kindness and emotional cohesion. It is slow and steady, patient and compassionate, forgiving and humble. It is the physical body that contains the other two doshas. People with this dosha have great endurance and are bigger-boned. They keep things together and are a support system for others.
When kapha is too high, we might be depressed, unmotivated, hopeless and stuck. People with too much/ excess kapha will be prone to weight gain, slow metabolism, sluggishness, over-sleeping, and breathing issues and have a higher risk of heart disease. They need regular motivation and encouragement.
So, in addition to knowing a little about the doshas, you also need to know about agni. It works hand-in-hand with the doshas, and understanding it is central to caring for your body and mind.
What is Agni?
Agni is the word used to describe your ‘digestive fires’ or metabolism. Agni is needed to transform everything we consume into things we can use and waste we can release. It governs our vitality, and when it is strong, we are strong. When it is weak, we get sick and out of balance. A strong agni results in a calm mind, healthy body, and steady emotions.
It has all the qualities of fire, so it needs constant food to keep it going, but not too much and not too damp or dry. It needs space, air, and consistency. When agni is strong and stable, we can transform anything we consume with our senses. So, the goal of Ayurveda is to keep the fires burning steadily. This is why how you eat is just as important as what you eat. Anything that is undigested becomes ama or toxins and is the cause of all inflammation and dis-ease.
If your agni is weak, your vata will be high. Understanding and working with both agni and vata is central to managing ADHD from an Ayurvedic perspective.
This is a very simplified and high overview of what Ayurveda is. Don’t touch this dial, I’ll be back with lots of valuable articles about how to calm vata and ADHD.